Nathuram Godse was arrested immediately after assassinating Mahatma Gandhi, following an FIR lodged by Nandlal Mehta at the Tughlak Road Police Station in Delhi. His trial, conducted in camera, began on May 27, 1948, and concluded on February 10, 1949, with a death sentence. An appeal to the Punjab High Court, then in session at Simla, was rejected, and the sentence was upheld. The intensity of Godse’s courtroom statement left a profound impact. Judge G. D. Khosla later reflected on the moment, writing: “The audience was visibly and audibly moved. A deep silence followed as he ceased speaking. Many women were in tears, while men coughed and searched for their handkerchiefs. The silence was only broken by the occasional subdued sniff or muffled cough… I have, however, no doubt that had the audience of that day been constituted into a jury and entrusted with the task of deciding Godse’s appeal, they would have brought in a verdict of ‘not guilty’ by an overwhelming majority”.
